The Greatest Opponent
Game, set, match. My first tennis tournament went by that fast. I go onto the court for my first game at 8:30 am, then my second around lunch, then the third an hour after lunch. During that time, I had not been drinking enough water between matches and became badly dehydrated by the beginning of the fourth and last match. It was about 102 degrees Fahrenheit then, and I felt really dizzy. I had to forfeit the last match because it was getting hard to breath. My dad took me home at about 3:00 pm, and that ended my first tennis tournament.
Just like how I became slowly dehydrated, people all around the world are slowly falling deeper and deeper in sin, and you’re one of them. Some people would say that they’re sins don’t count since their special in race or family, but Romans 3:9b says, “for we have proved both Jew and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.” Whether you are Jew or not, you have sinned. You’re a sinner that doesn’t deserve God’s love and mercy. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10. “For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23. You needs God’s forgiveness from your sins. Sin is like the dehydration I felt in the tournament. Sin slowly spreads and before you know it’s too late to stop.
Another thing to know is that Satan will always be your greatest opponent. If I tried to defeat a professional tennis player, I would most definitely lose. I don’t have the skill that they do. Though the idea may sound silly to you, many people, maybe even yourself, are walking into places filled with temptations and just stay there waiting to be tempted. Don’t be like that. Just like how I wouldn’t be able to beat a professional athlete, you won’t be able to resist Satan’s temptations without the Holy Spirit helping you. You’re hopelessly lost right now and are in desperate need of a Savior. You can’t save yourself. Psalm 38:3-4 “There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too much for me.” God the Father is a kind and merciful, but He is angry at sin. You can’t serve God and sin at the same time. Romans 2:3 “And thinkest thou, O man, that judgest them which do such thing, doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” It doesn’t matter what country you’re from or how many good works you do. You are destined for judgment. Romans 2:12 “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;”
In a tennis match, there are many ways to achieve victory. It’s not the same with salvation. You could tire your opponent, ace all your serves if possible, hit very hard shots to return, or a combination of the three to win a match, but in Act 4:12 it says that Christ is the only way. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Though you don’t deserve His love, God doesn’t want you to feel His wrath. He wants all to come to salvation. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” I Thessalonians 5:9. “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.” II Timothy 2:10 tells you that Jesus is the way to salvation. He is our wonderful Savior that gave up His
throne in heaven for us. He died in our place to cleanse us from our sins. I John 1:7b “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Will you please realize your need for salvation and come to salvation today? Time is running out. Sin is slowly taking over your life. Don’t be a foolish tennis player and go challenge someone much to powerful for you. Don’t try to resist Satan, your greatest opponent alone. Jesus is more than willing to make you a part of His family. The only thing left is for you to decide.
Music’s Menace
Young Alice Whitenfield sits up straight in her chair. A boy groans about how Alice would make him look bad because she was such a good piano player. As she walks confidently, if not proudly, up the steps to the piano, she begins to get nervous. She places her hands on he ivory keys and launches into the song pushing her initial nervousness aside. The audience murmurs softly in admiration as she perfectly plays the first page. Her pride grows as she begins the second movement.
Though Alice was doing so well, she is bound to mess up. Her pride in her natural ability led her to think, “I don’t need to practice 40 minutes a day. I can just do twenty. I don‘t even need to look at the notes that much. I‘ll play by ear.” For a while, it worked. She still played amazingly, but today doesn’t go well. She stumbles along the second movement, misses notes, repeats phrases, skips phrases, and pauses greatly. Her vision blurs as tears form. Her face burns with embarrassment. As she reaches the third and final movement, she goes blank. After playing the first line five times over, she gives up. Standing abruptly, she flees the stage and runs out of the building. She slams the car door shut and sobs loudly. “What had gone wrong?” she wails.What had gone wrong? Some of you musicians would laugh and say, “Ha! What a stupid thing to do! She shouldn’t be overconfident.” You may say that, but what about yourself? Wouldn’t you get overconfident if you had Alice’s natural talent too? Though the story isn’t true, it could happen to any one. How do you make sure that it doesn’t happen to you? I being a musician too would say, “Practice the right notes the required or over the required amount of time. PERFECT practice makes perfect.” The answer to that question is easy, but did you know that tons of people all over the world and perhaps you too are overconfident and ignorant to the true notes of life?
You need the right notes.
What are the right notes to life? You probably have never heard of such a question. What is the purpose of life and what will happen after I die? Does that sound familiar? Please don’t close this tract now just because you‘ve all ready heard this stuff. Read on. The Word of the Almighty God is truth. Psalm 119:160 says, “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” The verse is referring to God. God is holy and could never sin. Where else will you get the right notes? The holy, never sinful God and Creator of this world has all the true notes to you life. How many ways can you plays notes and get everything right? The answer is one. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is your only way to salvation. He died for you and rose again. The glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus, a part of the Trinity, became man, grew up, and lived just like we do today. He was perfect, sinless, and undefiled. He spread the words of His Father and obeyed. Some of you are angry right now. You are tired of hearing the same things from those around you. You don’t like being pressured and pestered. I am just going to say that all those people who have told about the wonderful Word of God love you and care about your soul. Ephesians 4:15 says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Those saved people, those who have accepted the free gift of salvation, are trying to bring others close to their loving Father and are trying to care about your soul like Christ Jesus cared for souls when he was on earth.
What else went wrong? Not only did Alice not have the right notes to the music, her pride wouldn’t allow anyone to help her. “I can do it myself.” is the attitude she had. Sometimes that is good. You shouldn’t be dependent on someone for everything in your life,
but too much independence is bad also. Independence gets its roots from pride just like a lot of other problems too. You can’t do it alone.
Pride. Such a small and easy word to spell, but it causes so much trouble. Selfishness, recklessness, independence, jealousy, you get the idea. All those things and more come from pride. Independence, when there is too much of it, leads to recklessness. You come independent of help which gets you overconfident and then you end up doing something reckless. Proverbs 14:3 says, “The fools mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.” Not many people want to be know as a fool. Not many people want to go unprotected. Pride will make you say things that you later will regret. You will be hurt in some form because of that prideful tongue. Everyone has it. Even the saved. I myself have a prideful that I’m trying to tame. The Lord gives His children wisdom. As I grow, my prideful tongue doesn’t lash out as much. Therefore, I’m protected from the dangers it can cause. Jeremiah 49:16 says, “The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. The Lord hates pride. Those who are prideful will receive punishment for their attitudes in this life or in eternity. Though He hates pride, God is loving. He doesn’t want the beings He created about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago to die. In Proverbs 9:6, it says, “Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.” God wants us to accept His free gift so we can forever be with Him in
heaven and be His children. Romans 1:21 describes the fools who have heard but have rejected, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Please, don’t be like one of those foolish people who ignore the loving pleas of those who care. Please don’t lose faith if you have it. God will work things work for good for them that love Him. If you don’t love Him, how can you expect to have lasting contentment? Sometimes you wonder, “Why do these loony people keep talking to me about this?” We are commanded by God to silence to foolish out of love. I Peter 2:15 says, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” Foolish people will whither and perish, but the children of the all-knowing God will prevail. Alice had another flaw to her plan. Her teacher tried to help her be a better pianist, but she refused because of her pride. Pride leads us to destruction if we don’t have salvation. Are you headed to hell? Hell is a place of endless torment where it is always hot with fire, but it’s dark. There’s no water and you’re always thirsty. Do you really want to end up there? Do you want to be tired, hot, thirsty, and unable to see for the rest of eternity? If you don’t listen to advice, you’ll fall.
God has given the people of this world so many chances that so many refuse. It breaks my heart of see so many people die and go to hell. That is one of the most sobering thoughts a Christian has. Everyone fears something. Maybe it isn’t a huge fear. Maybe it’s just a feeling of queasiness around the object of your fear. But why do you fear the things that can hurt your body, and scorn the Lord who can banish you to hell in the blink of an eye. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew10:28. If you want to fear something, fear the Lord who is control of everything in your life. He gives you every breath you breathe and can take it away with a word. If God wants you to die, you will die. Matthew 23:33 says, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” How can you escape hell? Can you just pretend it’s not there and escape it that way? The truth is that you are unsaved. You are like snakes. You will be condemned to the fiery pits of hell if you don’t accept the free gift of the loving God that created you. Don’t get me wrong. God did not invent sin. He did not make demons or hell. That was Satan’s doing. God is trying to keep His sheep, His children, from the fiery pit. “Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it.” That is what Proverbs 8:33 says. The Lord warns us not to ignore His gentle correction and instruction. “The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God.“ “Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.” “Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.” Psalm 9:17, Proverbs 13:18, and Proverbs 5:5 tell of the future of those who will not listen. Is that the future you want? You maybe be rich here, but you will be nothing in eternity.
Alice sobs in the car. Her eyes, red and swollen from the tears, look around the parking lot. Her parents stand next to the car wanting to come in. Alice knows what they were going to say. “I didn’t listen to their advice before, but I will listen now. It may do me some good.” With those words, she unlocks the door and lets them in
The End
What is your choice? Will you keep being prideful and ignorant? Or will you bow you head and pray and beg God to save you. Please make you choice soon. You never know when your life will end. Don’t let this be the “The End” of your life. If you have any more questions or just want to talk, you can contact me at ANGUY427@students.bju.edu or ng.anne205@yahoo.com. Have a great day and may the Lord God Almighty bless you. He suffered for you and left His magnificent throne in heaven for you. He is your selfless, caring, unconditionally loving Savior. John 1:14 says, “The the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory."
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9
Will You Prosper? Or will you fall?
Alice’s Recital